Gig Review: Foster The People – London O2 Academy Brixton

Friday 27th April: Foster The People are an indie pop band formed in Los Angeles, the group are composed of Mark Foster (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Cubbie Fink (bass and backing vocals) and Mark Pontius (drums, extra percussion). Their album ‘Torches’ peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. They have a sold out tour, with three of them being in Brixton, this being the first night of three. They have two support acts joining them on the tour, We Barbarians and Mini Mansions.

We Barbarians were the first act to take the stage; they are a three-piece indie rock band from America. Their sound resembles U2.

Mini Mansions were up next, another three piece group, they were clearly happy to be there, as they kept thanking everyone. The group had great vocals and a clear talent for music. The crowd enjoyed it, but were definitely waiting for the main act to come to the stage.

Later than scheduled, Foster The People, took to the stage, they were accompanied by two extra people, Isom Innis and Sean Cimino who were helping with the music. The Academy was now completely rammed, clearly all loved the group. The first thing that comes to mind when watching this group perform live is the amount of energy they give off, it’s contagious. The first three songs all meshed in to one, with some amazing lighting and bursts of ticker tape. After the first three songs, Mark Foster then welcomed the audience ‘Whatsup London, beautiful London’; this was to be the only talking of the night.

They performed all the songs from their album ‘Torches’. A lot of their songs are upbeat, however the song ‘I Would Do Anything for You’ sang live is beautiful to listen to.

The songs that got the best reception from the crowd were the songs that had been released as singles ‘Helena Beat’, ‘Call It What You Want’, ‘Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls)’ and ‘Houdini’ (to be released as a single on 15th May), all these songs got the crowd singing and dancing.

The show obviously couldn’t end without Foster The People’s most famous and well-known track ‘Pumped Up Kicks’, to see this song performed live is equally amazing, the best song of the night without question. The energy, the music, the vocals, the added bubbles and ticker tape, it was just awesome. The audience went crazy, at one point nearly dragging Mark Foster in to the audience.

If you are a massive fan of Foster The People, going to see one of their shows will only fuel your love for them. And if you happen to see them perform live and you don’t know who they are or you are not a massive fan, you will definitely leave wanting to hear more of their music. I’m excited to hear new music from the group and can only expect big things to come.